Monday, June 27, 2011

Bye Bye Bloat

The 4 C's 

One of the most common words used by clients in by office is “bloated.” Nobody likes to feel bloated, especially during beach and bathing suit season.  I spoke to Tanya Rivera, of GMA Health, about the bloating basics and thought Monday, post weekend, was a good day to debloat with you.

Bloating is swelling due to fluid or gas. Eating salty or processed foods, eating too fast, for some lactose or sweeteners can all cause bloating. While women have the bonus of hormonal bloating, not to worry, men bloat too. If bloating persists or intensifies it is worth looking into but more often than not bloat is just unsightly and annoying.

If there’s an event you want to feel your best for or you simply want to debloat. My starter tip for bloat is to remove the 4 C’s. I’ve mentioned them before but these are:
  • Carbs- especially the white ones hang onto water as they digest, whereas protein uses water
  • Canned Foods-even healthy canned foods such as beans or tuna cause bloat (and may contain BPA’s) think jarred foods, rinse well in a colander or skip.
  • Carbonated Beverages- yes seltzer and something I’m totally against soda will bloat you. All those bubbles end up in your stomach and it’s often not pretty.
  •  Chewing Gum- seems innocent but you swallow air constantly. Gum chewers are amazed when they find this one out.


The Tummy Trifecta
Too many raw veggies aren’t part of my prescription but there are 3 I call “The Tummy Trifecta”.

  •  Dandelion greens are good in salads or in teas, they are also in season now but need a good washing when you use them
  • Asparagus aren’t only a diuretic food they are also anti inflammatory due to their saponin content and a prebiotic food.
  • Parsley- a great anti gas and diuretic food, I love parsley in green juices with ginger and lemon


Debloating Drinks


Lemons have been used for centuries for all sorts of medicinal applications. Lemon is a natural diuretic and a couple cups of lemon water a day may keep distention away.  Our clients also love a green tea-based drink called EBoost eboost.com. Yogi also makes a delicious detox tea that’s great iced in the summer time. You can also take fennel and caraway seeds and boil them for a homemade tea.
Eboost.com

High Potassium Foods

Sodium and potassium work in a balance. To debloat, potassium (in food not supplement form) can help.  Cantaloupe, coconut water, oranges and avocados are excellent choices and sources I prefer over the banana when it comes to bloat. Even one day of incorporating these debloaters can make a difference. Then I’ll tell you the second most common word in my office, any guesses?
Are you bloat-prone? What do you do to improve it? Which of these foods are you ready to incorporate? And how bloated do I look in that segment next to tiny Tanya?

14 comments:

  1. You look awesome in the segment! I'm glad you shared the high potassium foods, because I think that information may have been new to most viewers. When I feel bloated I always try to stay as hydrated as possible, and even though drinking a ton of water and eating watery fruit causes it's own temporary bloat, it always feels better when I wake up the next morning.

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  2. I had no idea parsley was so good for anti-bloat and gas! Definitely going to add it to more of my foods. I've found that limiting my soda intake and drinking more water has helped me a lot (though I still love my cancer coke AKA diet coke at least twice per week). I've also been cutting down on the gum, which is hard because I chew it mainly for anxiety-related purposes, but in the end makes me feel so much better!

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  3. Kudos on your performance! You look and sound amazing! I am certainly going to keep these tips in mind as I grocery shop this season.

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  4. Lauren I love the news clip. If I lived near you I would so love to work at FoodTrainers ... Anywho, I definitely agree with the 4 C's.. Things that also bloat me are sugar alcohols and soy protein isolate. Not pretty. I really have to avoid those.
    When I'm bloated I try to drink water, green tea and eat avocados. I also try to remember to slow down and chew my food thoroughly.
    Great tips!!

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  5. What a great post!
    I hate being bloated. I love the tip of drinking lemon water. I am going to have to remember, especially before getting in a swimsuit. :)

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  6. Kristin- all of the beverages mentioned are great pre-swimsuit. And Lisa, seems we have similar debloating foods. Lisa- we need water to lose water so you're right to be drinking and Cameo yes a debloating shopping list well do you right. Sofia, we have to work on that diet cancer. I'll see if I can convert you. Maybe use twitter and #TIDEI when you want to have one.

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  7. As always, an outstanding and timely post. We just had an over-indulgent 10 days in Southern CA, and my body is punishing me for it. We just booked a trip to Santa Fe and our favorite spa, which is clothing optional. We have one month for radical de-bloating! I may sign up for Twitter only for #TIDEI.

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  8. Great post! I never knew that seltzer causes bloating. Switching to lemon water :-)

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  9. Totally not anti seltzer (love it) just not good if you are feeling bloated.

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  10. While I am not in violation of most of these offenders I have to say that I love sparkling water...it's hard to give it up! It totally hits the spot when I'm hungry but not really hungry you know? But luckily I'm not prone to bloating because I eat really well most of the time. Especially now, in the middle of a detox. It's hard but I can see the difference!!

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  11. I see parsley a lot in green juices and I always wonder why. It seems like such a 'filler' ingredient! Glad you cleared that up.

    I'm a gum chewer and yes, was quite surprised when I first heard that chewing gum causes bloat. Although it is quite intuitive if you think about it!

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  12. oh thank you for this information. really informative. what about raw veggies.....can they make you bloated?

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  13. Very interesting! I have issues with...ahem...gas. I think that they're very tied to the same issues that cause bloat. I'm going to try your tummy trifecta!

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  14. I'm bloat prone... probably partly because I love the 4 C's!!! I chew gum allll the time. And I love me some carbs. Haha I do eat a lot of vegetables, and sometimes that helps... but sometimes they cause some... gas. haha

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